09/05/2026
Huggy’s Story
Huggy is a male Kamchatka brown bear (Ursus arctos) with a playful personality and a special fondness for some of the simplest enrichment items. Born on January 18, 2012, Huggy’s favorite enrichment includes cardboard boxes and tubes. Sometimes, he can be found wearing a box on his head, while other times he tosses the boxes around and chases after them.
During the warm summer months, Huggy enjoys lounging in his pool and getting baths from the hose while his keepers clean his night house. These activities give him opportunities to play, explore, and simply enjoy his surroundings.
Huggy lives in one of two natural black bear habitats TCWR completed in 2018. The concept behind these state-of-the-art habitats was to completely fence in a large area—about an acre per habitat—so that the bears in captivity could behave more like the native bears of Arkansas. TCWR’s animal caretakers provide Huggy with daily food, maintain his in-ground pool, and monitor him closely.
Huggy’s journey to Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge began during the Colorado Project of 2016–2017. He arrived at TCWR on January 21, 2017, along with 33 other animals.
The rescue began when TCWR acquired a closing, 12-acre roadside establishment where 115 animals were living in deplorable conditions with minimal veterinary care. Due to health issues, the previous owner needed to find new homes for all the animals he had acquired.
Many of the enclosures had access doors made of rotting plywood, with a padlock meant to contain these apex predators. The animals lived on compacted dirt and woodchips with little shade from the glaring eastern Colorado sun.
TCWR’s team worked on-site for six months and collaborated with other accredited Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries (GFAS) sanctuaries to transport the animals and provide them with lifelong refuge.
During this period, TCWR also assisted in founding the Big Cat Sanctuary Alliance (BCSA), helping unite accredited sanctuaries for future rescues while educating and raising public awareness about the plight of the growing wild cat crisis.
Today, Huggy’s life looks very different from the conditions he left behind—whether he is relaxing in his pool, enjoying a hose bath, or enthusiastically chasing a cardboard box around his habitat.
